A famous YouTuber known for her vegan lifestyle is now under fire after a video of her eating fish surfaced online. Now, Yovana is explaining to her fans why she started eating meat again.
Criticized YouTuber
Yovana Mendoza is a popular YouTuber with a combined 3 million social media followers, thanks primarily to her vegan lifestyle brand, Rawvana. However, she has been taking a lot of heat lately after a video from another vlogger caught her eating fish, something that is not allowed in veganism.
Health Issues
In a 33-minute video, Mendoza explains why she had started eating meat again and why she kept it from her followers for quite a while. Mendoza explains that she had been having health issues while she was on the raw vegan diet. Her thyroid levels were low, she was no longer ovulating, and she was nearly anemic. Eventually she was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
Because of this, her doctors advised her to consume meats and eggs, and soon her overall health improved.
Backlash
Despite Mendoza’s explanation, fans were still upset that she had “deceived” them as she was still posting about the lifestyle even while she had already begun to transition to eating meat again. Some even accused her of animal cruelty while others said that she exploited the vegan movement for self-promotion.
In response, Mendoza explains that it was because she was not ready to talk about it yet, and that the diet was still on trial period at that point. Furthermore, she states that despite the transition, she is still an advocate of the plant-based diet and that she is not saying that it was because of the diet that she had health issues.
For the meantime, Mendoza is taking some “private time,” but said that she will share her journey when she is ready.
